Five local schools could face closure

Monday

Apr 29, 2013 at 11:30 AMApr 29, 2013 at 11:47 AM

By Ami RidlingDaily News Staff Writer

Siskiyou County Superintendent of Schools Kermith Walters has jumped into the fray to save five local small school districts from becoming defunct as a result of the language in a trailer bill attached to Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2013-14 budget.

“The state wants to get rid of small school districts and force us to consolidate, but we know what we are doing is what is best for our children,” said Walters. “Small schools have more of a family atmosphere than larger schools. It is easier to deal with social issues and identify resources that are needed by families.”

According to Walters, the Dunsmuir High and the Delphic, Little Shasta and Bogus elementary school districts could lose the funding on which they depend to remain operational if the trailer bill is adopted as currently drafted. He said McCloud High School could also be affected, although it is part of the Siskiyou Union High School District (SUHSD). Each of these school districts (and McCloud High School) serve a double-digit student population.

In addition to receiving state and federal funding based on student population, known as Average Daily Attendance (ADA), these districts are currently eligible for Necessary Small School (NSS) block funding.

Walters explained that these districts receive approximately $5,000 per year, per student, in ADA funding. Since they are eligible for NSS funding, they also receive an annual block of approximately $139,000 for six to 24 students and another block of funds if their student population exceeds 24, and so on.

The trailer bill, as currently written, would change necessary small school block funding criteria to be a school that has less than 100 students and is geographically isolated, meaning further than 15 miles from a neighboring school that offers the same services, said Walters.

The bill would also remove control from the county school superintendent to grant exceptions to distance requirements if conditions exist in the district which would impose hardships on students to attend school in a different district. Conditions could include adverse weather or lack of transportation.

Rather, the authority to grant distance exceptions would fall under the purview of the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction under the trailer bill.“That is about as far away from local control as you can get,” said Walters. “This language takes local control away from us.”

Since single-school districts such as Delphic, which serves 33 students; Little Shasta, which serves 25 students; and Bogus, which serves 11 students, are located within 15 miles of neighboring schools that offer the same services, they would not fall under the new NSS funding criteria outlined in the bill.

Dunsmuir High School District operates a community day school (making it a two-school district), and McCloud High School is part of SUHSD; thus Walters said it is still unclear how they will be affected by the passage of this bill.

However, one thing is clear: Local small school districts would not be able to remain afloat for long without NSS funding.

The student population in these districts is so low that ADA funding only provides enough revenue to pay for needs such as utilities and insurance, although Walters said it would not be nearly enough to sustain the districts.

“The small school districts could operate for a while because they have reserves, but it is not a sustainable model,” said Walters, adding that these districts have been operating on a deficit for the past six years as it is. “It is not like these schools are going to close tomorrow, but eventually, this will cause them to close,” he said.

On April 9, Walters and Dunsmuir High School District Principal/Superintendent Len Foreman traveled to Sacramento to bear their testimony before the education finance subcommittee. In addition, representatives from the California Teachers Association and Small School Districts Association were among those who spoke in support of altering language in the trailer bill to allow for the survival of small districts.

One silver lining came as a result of the trip to the state capitol.

“We learned that the subcommittee itself had concerns about the language added to the trailer. They flagged it to research it more,” he said.

Shortly after the Sacramento trip, the Small School District Association made contact with a representative from the governor’s office and provided the revision language for the trailer bill, said Walters.

However, he noted that he will not know whether the language will make it into the bill until the budget’s May revision is released.

In the meantime, Walters said he, local superintendents and small school district supporters are rallying to support Siskiyou County’s educational institutions by communicating their plight to the governor’s office, state legislators, Small School District Association advocates and the California Department of Finance.

Walters asserted that most state-level education committees are chaired by people from large, urban areas – people who do not understand the unique needs of isolated counties like Siskiyou. He used the Forks of the Salmon School District as an example. This school is isolated, and its electricity is provided by a generator.

“One committee member actually asked me why these kids don’t use public transportation to attend school in a different district,” said Walters of his past dealings with state-level education committees. “They really don’t care what happens to us. They are fighting for the same dollars that we are. They don’t understand why we have the number of necessary small schools that we have,” said Walters.

He added that the proposed budget does not include increased funding for bus transportation if students from affected schools are forced to be shuffled to neighboring district schools. As it is, local school bus transportation is woefully underfunded.

Sherry Coonrod, Little Shasta School District board member, called it “sad and tragic” that the two-room schoolhouse, which she commented has been providing sound educational instruction to rural Montague area children since 1858, may be closed.

Little Shasta School is located within 15 miles of Montague Elementary School.

“Our students get individual attention, they have the benefit of hands-on learning and they have access to all the latest technology,” said Coonrod, adding that these advantages have resulted in continuously high test scores.

“Little Shasta School is a little jewel, and it would just be a shame to close down a school that is producing great students and high test scores. These students take pride in their school,” she said. “Why fix something that isn’t broken?”

Debbie Faulkner, superintendent/principal of Delphic Elementary School, said the school has been operating for 97 years – all the while priding itself on its ability to provide individual attention to students. She maintained that this has resulted in high test scores.

“We are a family at Delphic. We have dinners with the parents and the school has a family atmosphere,” said Faulkner. “The board members were graduates of Delphic and work very hard to preserve the integrity of the school. The property the school was built on was donated by the community because they believe so strongly in the small school.”

She noted that Delphic alumni have a 100 percent graduation rate from Yreka High School and Delphic has had more valedictorians and salutatorians per capita at Yreka High School than any other school in Siskiyou County.Delphic is located within five miles of Montague, Yreka and Grenada elementary schools.

“The current administration at Delphic School has been running the school for over twenty years and feels we have always battled hurdles to keep the small school operating. If our funding is cut by the trailer bill, this may be a hurdle we will not be able to survive,” said Faulkner